Try - The Complete Romance Series (27 page)

 
I
kissed him again and nodded. “Let me just grab my purse really quick and then
we can go.” I locked the door behind me and pulled my coat tight as we walked
down the hall and then made our way to where the SUV waited outside. I was so
excited—and so nervous at the same time—that for a minute or two all I could do
was shiver in silence, waiting for the heat to come up in the car as Patrick
pulled out of the parking structure attached to my building and got onto the
road.

I’d told him that we needed to be there by
seven o’clock sharp; technically the party wouldn’t start until seven-thirty,
but I wanted to have a chance to introduce my parents and siblings to Patrick
before everyone started to arrive. “Landon didn’t think the party sounded too
exciting,” Patrick told me, adding with a grin, “Of course any party without a
ball pit or a clown would be boring to him.”

I laughed. “There’s going to be lots going
on,” I told Patrick, settling in the seat as the heat started to kick on in
earnest and the chill melted away from me. “My parents have had years to come
up with a bunch of silly traditions that they
have
to do on New Year’s Eve.”

“Traditions are great!” Patrick pulled
onto the highway, headed out of the city. “What kind of silly traditions are we
talking about here?”

“Everyone has to put their resolution down
on paper and put it in a fishbowl,” I told him, shaking my head as I remembered
when my parents had first come up with that particular tradition when I was
about ten years old. “Then, before midnight, they read out the different
resolutions and everyone has to guess which one belongs to who.”

“That sounds like fun,” Patrick said,
smiling. “Good way for new people to get to know each other.”

“They also do this thing where they do
joke awards for the people attending the party,” I said. “Like, most likely to
get arrested in the New Year or most likely to have a new kid, things like
that.”

“Does everyone get a ballot?”

I smiled. “I’ll help you fill yours out,”
I told him. Patrick got up to cruising speed and reached over to take my hand.

“There is one thing I want your help with
tonight,” he told me, bringing my hand up to his face and kissing my palm; it
was just enough contact to send a jolt of heat through my body.

“What’s that?” I asked, once I was able to
breathe again.

“I want to call Landon just after
midnight. Do you want to be in on the call? I think it’d be really special for
him.” Patrick glanced at me quickly. “Normally I’m with him—and my in-laws—for
New Year’s Eve, and this is the first year since he was born that I haven’t
been there.”

“You should have told me!”

I felt a flicker of guilt for taking
Patrick away from a tradition with his son.

“He can spend this year with just them,”
Patrick said firmly. “And assuming we’re still together this time next year, we
can work out what we’ll do for the night all together. But would you want to be
in on the call?”

“Of course!” I smiled. “If he’s still up
that late, I’d love to tell him Happy New Year’.”

“I assume I’m going to be your New Year’s
kiss, right?”

I laughed and made a face at Patrick. “Of
course. Why else would I have asked you to come with me to the party?”

“Landon very specifically said he wanted
me to call after I’d finished kissing you—I wanted to make sure that was on the
schedule too.” I felt my cheeks warming up, but I was too happy to be
completely embarrassed at the question.

“As soon as we’re done kissing, then,” I
said. “I can show you where it’ll be quiet enough to actually hear him.”

We made small talk the rest of the way to
my parents’ place, and I felt myself getting more and more excited. Everyone in
my family was going to meet Patrick, and I couldn’t imagine any of them not
falling completely in love with him the way that I had. I wanted to see the
looks on my siblings’ faces, the way my parents would approve of him
immediately. I couldn’t wait for midnight to come, when I could give Patrick
the first kiss of the New Year, and then we could call Landon together.

I directed him onto my parents’ street and
as we got closer to the house I saw that even though we’d gotten there early,
there were already a few people at the party.
Oh well. It’s not that important. He’ll still get to meet the
fam
before everyone starts coming, and it’ll save you the
trouble of a few introductions,
I told myself as Patrick found a place on
the street to park.

“Are you sure you’re going to be warm
enough for the walk to the door?”

“As long as we make it fast, I think I’ll
live,” I said, though as soon as I opened the door I felt the goose bumps break
out on my legs. I took a deep breath and climbed out of the SUV, tugging and
rearranging my dress to make sure it fell the right way. I handed Patrick the
bottle of champagne he had brought in the car, and he kissed me quickly on the
lips before taking my hand. It wasn’t quite enough to keep the chill off of me,
but I still felt a little warm as we walked up the street and then along the
walkway leading to my parents’ front door.

I knocked on the door quickly and then
just opened it and stepped inside. “Hey, everyone!” I called out, leading
Patrick in behind me. He closed the door and I looked around, letting go of his
hand so that I could take my coat off. “If I’d known people were going to come
early I would have spent an hour less getting ready.”

I heard a shout from the living room, and
my parents appeared first, leading my siblings and the few guests who had
already arrived to come and greet me. “Mom, Dad—everyone; this is Patrick, my
boyfriend.” I took Patrick’s hand and tugged him a little closer to me, looking
at everyone to see their approval. I saw Alex, John, Evie, and their spouses;
Evie looked almost envious at the sight of Patrick, and I felt a little gush of
pride at my gorgeous boyfriend. I saw one of the
neighbors
 
and
one of my mom’s former coworkers,
and smiled at each of them.

Someone else came out of the living room
to join the rest of the party, and I peered closely at the approaching figure.
All at once he stepped into the light and my heart stopped in my chest for just
a moment. I looked at my parents in shock as I recognized who it was, and my
hand must have tightened on Patrick’s because he gave me a quick, concerned
look. My parents had invited someone I hadn’t seen in years; they’d invited my
ex-boyfriend Noah—the first guy I’d ever fallen in love with seriously, when
I’d started at college.

Chapter Six – Patrick

I was nervous enough when we got to Mack’s
parents’ house. When she started introducing me to everyone, I started to feel
at ease; but when I felt her hand tighten on mine and saw the look of shock on
her face, I wondered who her parents could have possibly invited that would
make her look almost afraid. “You’re our daughter’s new boyfriend,” an older
man said, coming up to me. I let go of Mack’s hand and took stock of the guy;
after a moment or two I could tell that he was definitely Mackenzie’s dad—there
was something similar in the face, in the hair.

“I hope so,” I said, grinning wryly. “I
guess that depends on how well I do tonight.” The man laughed and I shook his
hand, holding the bottle of champagne up to offer it to him. “I figured you
would have plenty of drinks on hand to toast the New Year, but I didn’t want to
show up empty-handed to meet Mackenzie’s parents.” A woman who looked even more
like Mack than her father stepped up and took the bottle from me.

“That was so thoughtful!” she gave me her
hand and I shook it as well. “I’m Mack’s mom, Kate; and this is her father,
David.”

“Pleased to meet you both,” I said,
nodding. “As Mack already said, my name is Patrick.” I looked over at the woman
I loved; she hadn’t quite recovered from whatever had shocked her, but she was
pretending to be okay, talking to one of the other women gathered in the
entryway. “Is there someone here Mack wasn’t expecting to see? She looks
stunned.”

“That…” Kate looked a little embarrassed,
glancing away from me at a tall, slim guy; he’d been the last to come in, and
he was dressed in a rumpled suit, with his dark hair combed back off of his
face, brushing his collar. Kate grimaced and gave me an apologetic smile,
leading me into the living room as everyone started back in that direction.
“I’m really sorry—I made a bad decision this week.”

“Is that so?” I glanced at Mack again; she
was starting to lose the flustered, flushed look, but I wanted to ask her what
was wrong nonetheless.

“I’ll have to apologize to Mack later,”
Kate said, sighing. She licked her lips, looking nervous for a moment. “I hate
to say anything bad about my daughter, but I thought that maybe she had made
you up.”

“Made me up?”

 
Kate smiled wryly. “Her father and I have been
kind of pushy about her settling down; maybe she’s mentioned it to you?” I
chuckled. Mack had mentioned her parents’ interest in her love life on a couple
of occasions, and I’d suspected that she was trying to play it down—especially
after what my sister had said about women trying not to scare men off.

“She said something about that, yes,” I
confirmed.

“Well, we kind of thought—and obviously
now we feel like idiots—but we thought that maybe she’d made up some new guy
she was dating.” Kate pressed her lips together, looking almost as mortified as
Mack had looked. “So I thought it might be a good idea to try and guarantee her
a midnight kiss.” Kate shrugged, still looking embarrassed but starting to
regain her composure. “I called one of her exes to catch up during the holidays
and found out that he was single.”

I’m not sure if staring at Mack’s mother
in shock was the best thing to do, but her level of meddling stunned me. I
couldn’t believe that even if they had assumed that their daughter had been
lying about meeting someone new, they would go so far as to invite someone
without her permission—someone who, I would think, Mack would almost certainly
not want to see.
People are always exes
for a reason,
I thought, glancing around until I saw the guy. “

That seems a little…” I couldn’t finish
the sentence in any way that wouldn’t have sounded judgmental.

“Obviously it was a mistake,” Kate said,
shrugging again and trying to smile. “But we’ve been worried about her being
single for so long.” She took a deep breath. “Of course, since you’re real, and
you’re here, I’m sure Noah will just find someone else to get his midnight kiss
from.”

“Tell us about yourself Patrick,” Mack’s
father said, walking up with a glass in either hand. “I hope you’re okay with
whiskey and coke—I ordered for you.” I shrugged and took the glass that he
offered me, taking a quick sip. I still couldn’t quite believe that Mack’s
parents had thought it would be a good idea to invite her ex to their party.

“I have a beautiful, five-year-old son
named Landon,” I said, trying to put the awkwardness of the situation behind
me.

“That’s wonderful!” Kate said, sipping a
glass of champagne. “Did something happen between you and Landon’s mother?”

“She passed away,” I said, taking another
quick sip of the cocktail Mack’s father had brought me. “Joanne found out that
she had cancer shortly after she got pregnant, and delayed treatment until
after she’d delivered Landon. She passed away when he was a few months old.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Kate said,
sighing. “It must be difficult for you, raising your son alone.”

“It’s very rewarding,” I said, starting to
relax a little bit. “I don’t get as much time with him as I want—I have to
work, after all—but every minute I have with him is precious to me.”

I managed to find a few moments to snag a
bite to eat while I chatted with Mack’s parents, answering their questions
about my work, about my lifestyle. I relaxed more and more, reminding myself
that I knew for a fact that Mack was in love with me, and that the fact that
her parents were asking so many questions meant that they were interested in
getting to know me. It was awkward for Mack’s ex to be at the party, but I
didn’t have any doubts about who she would rather be with of anyone in the
room.

The doorbell rang and Mack’s parents went
off, leaving the living room to answer it and greet their new arrivals. I
looked around for Mack and realized that somewhere along the line, she’d
disappeared. I spotted the woman she’d been talking to when her parents
cornered me and made my way over to her. “Hi,” I said, smiling as warmly as I
could. “I saw you talking with Mack earlier—and you two look so much alike. I
was wondering if you’re her sister
Evie?
”

“I am!” The woman beamed at me, raising
her champagne glass. “I wanted to introduce myself before, but I saw you were
getting the third degree from Mom and Dad, so I hung back.”

“I came prepared,” I told her, chuckling.
“I figured that Mack’s family would want to know as much as possible about the
new boyfriend.” I looked around again and failed to find Mackenzie. “You don’t
happen to know where she went, do
you?
”